Ammunition packing device



Jan. 17, 1950 P. F. LAMBERT AMMUNITION PACKING DEVICE Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 1, 1945 Q a o e e o o o o e Parle y F. Lam]: art

Ja'n.'17, 1950 P. FL LAMBERT 2,494,564

= AMMUNITION PACKING DEVICE Filed Nov. 1; 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 17, 1959 *UNITED STATES amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to methods of and devices for packing belted machine gun ammunition.

An object of this invention is to provide a method of folding and arranging belted machine gun ammunition to facilitate packing same in ammunition boxes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved layout of the folds of the belt containing the ammunition in order to reduce the number of sharp folds of the belt and to minimize the sharpness of the fold and the resultant stress on the belt at the folds.

A'further object of the invention is to provide a means whereby the stress on the individual rounds of ammunition is minimized thus preventing damage to any of the rounds.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings and in which,

" Figure 1 is a front elevation of the ammunition packing device showing belted ammunition on the rack and empty ammunition box beneath,

3 Figure 2 is a sectional elevation taken along line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure'3 is a sectional view taken along line 3 3 of Figure 2, l Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 2,

"Figure 6 is a top view of the device, partly.

broken out to show the mechanism,

, Figure '7 is a detail plan view of the lever guide plate with upper belt tip pin,

Figure 8 is a detail side elevation of the plate and pin shown in Figure 7,

Figure 9 is a detail elevational sectional view showing the method of mounting one of the upper belt guide pins,

Figure 10 is a detail elevational sectional view showing the swivel joint method of supporting the actuating lever, and

? Figure 11 is a perspective partly phantom vie of the device to show th general arrangement of the parts and mechanism.

.As best shown in Figures 1, 2 and 11, the ammunition loading fixture has a base member 2 made of sheet material on which is supported an upright box-like frame or casing 4 which has a front face member 6, two side members 8 and Ill, and a top member l2. The side members may be turned in at the bottom as at M and I6 respectively to furnish abutting surfaces resting on the base'member 2 so that the portions l4 and I6 may be welded to the base member 2.

' The base member 2 is greater in area than the horizontal cross sectional area of the frame 4 which rests upon it, so that the frame may be 10- catedtowardthe rear of the base member 2, thus providing a front platform l8 upon which an empty ammunition box or container 20 may rest during part of th loading operation. Greater stability is also the result of thus providing a, base a member 2 the area of which is greater than that of the frame 4 resting thereon.

'pi n fretaining plate 22, substantially rect'angula'r in area, is secured to the inner surface of the front face member 6 as shown, by welding or other suitable fastening means, the plate 22 being made longer than the width of the face member 6 so that the two end portions 24 and 26 of the plate 22'extend to the right andleft respectively beyond the side edges of face member 6 as shown.

As seen "in Figure 4, suitable vertical slots or apertures 28 and are formed in side members 8 and ID to permit the insertion of the ends 24 and 26 of the plate 22 therethrough. Left and right'end pin'retaining plates 32 and 34 are fastened to the front surfaces of ends 24 and 26 of plate 22 with their front faces flush with the face of face member 6, as illustrated. A horizontal pin support plate 36 formed of an elongated piece of angle iron, has its vertical leg 38 fastened to the rearward face of plate 22 as may be seen in Figures 4, and 9, with its horizontal leg 40 projecting,

horizontally andrearwardly. End pin support plates 42 and 44, as seen in Figure 4 similar in verticalcross section to support plate 36, but shorter, are fastened to the rearward faces of end portions 24 and 26 respectively, thus constituting sidewise extensions of pin support plate 36.

A plurality of L-shaped ammunition belt guide pins 46 formed of round rods, are disposed as shown with their horizontal legs 41 extending through holes 48 in members 6 and 22 and projecting forwardly out of the mechanism as shown, and with their vertical legs 50 extending downward through holes 52 in horizontal leg 40 of support plate 36. The side end pins 49 and 56 extend through similar holes formed through the sidewise extensions such as members 34, 24 and 44 already described. For use with a standard 250 round, caliber .30 ammunition belt, a total of eight belt guide pins 46 will sufiice. The number of pins46 required will of course vary depending upon the length of belt being used. The members 36, 42 and 44 may be fastened to plate 22 by 3 means of screws 54 to permit easy assembly of member is welded at its forward end to the rearward face of face memberwfizinlregistry with a hole 58 iformed ithrough member 61as5shown. A lower belt guide pin 60 is slidably inserted through the central horizontal bore in holder 51 and the hole 58 and adapted \forrreciprocal movement therein. The pin 60 is "formed of cylindrical rod material and, as shown inc-Figures 2, and 11, has its rearward end bent intoa ring at 62, the axis of the ringb'ingsubstantially vertical.

A hand lever 64 has its lower-end .fi6rpivotally supported in a lever retaining rplate 68 which is welded to the bottom-ibase member 2. As best illustrated in..Figur,e .10 'the.-lower end .66 of the lever'fi'd is suitably tormed witna circumferential groove .near the and .so .as to permit the groove to rest'in anentrallholeflfl-formed'in the-central elevated portion .12 .of the plate '68. The :p'late 6.8.is. splitalonga plane. passing vertically through its center, 'thus forming Jtwo'halves which are brought together after 'the'lower end v66 of the lever 164 is .placed .between them, whereby the grooved ,portion of the lever .is loosely disposed in thelhole 510.

' As shown inFigures.- 2 ,and11,'lever T64 extends upward through the ring 62 or guide pin '60. The upper portion orlevertl extends upwardly through. a. s1ot"|=4'.inltop..meniber [2 .of ithemechanism. Thus .the .protrudingaportion of the upper end -.of .lever ."6'4 .-.may '.be .grasped with "the handof the operator and moved back .and iorth, its motion being constrained '.by .the dimensions of .the slot :14, .so .that as .thelever .61 .is thus pivoted on'base plate 68 between positions '55 andfil ;inFig ure..2, the pin 60 isalternatelycaused to protrude..forward1ytout.of the .hole 5.81to.the position Hi-as:showmby-thedotted .lines in Figure 2 ,rand to beeretracted inside hole .53 tothe :position indicated by the .solid lines at 18 in the same figure.

seen rim-Figures 3 :and 4 and in :..detail in Figures "7 :and' 8, a lever gguide tplatetflil :formed of an aelongated piece of sheet metal with ssa .longitudinal el'on'ga'ted 551Gb Its :rearward zend portion .284 is :reduced in width, thus donning shoulders :at 86. Its rforward endis :b'entover at 88 and a belt tip pm 280 has its Lthre'aderl rearward end inserted through a hole in the berit portion 88, being secured therein by two nuts 92. best seen "in Figure 2, the p'l'ate 8'0 is horizontally disposed just beneath the *top member l-2of the devic'eywith its slot 82 -in longitudinal registry'witnslot T l-of menib'er [-2. "I-he rearward extension 80 extends through a hori- 'zontal slot 8| formed'in'the downward hanging portion 13 of the top member l2. "The pin "90 extends "forwardly through aligned holes 9| and 92 in;.face. member '6 and infhoth'legstof U =shaped pin support "member 96. The "slot "82 is "shorter than .slot 1.4 and lever' 6'4 extends through both slots.

:It .is .thus apparent tnatmovement of "lever 64 from position '65 .as shown Lin Figure 2 to position 61,, :will not only .move pin'60 from its rearward .position' to its Jforwardj protruding position '16 :but will also move 'llever guide plate80 fromfits rearwardposition as shownby thesolid lines inlFigure 2 with shoulders .86 .up against the inside-of slot BI and poitionfl'd protruding out rearwardly, and .lpin .not Jextending i'forwardly out Of .hole '92, to theiorward position as .fs'hownby the dottedlinesin Figure 2. In

this position the pin 90 protrudes forwardly out of hole 92 and the portion 84 correspondingly does .not :protrude rearwarclly rout. of .slot.8 l

As :will :be explained iblow, it isadesir'able for the reciprocal range of movement of upper pin 10 responsive to lever 64 to be less than that of lowerpintileven though the effective lever arm of lever "64 about pivot 68 is greater at upper apinAlO than-eat lower pin 60, and this is accomplished by the structure shown. Referring now toFigureZ, 'it'will'be seen that as the hand lever 56.4 Bis moved to its forwardmost position 61 i. e. to the left of the view, the pins 60 and '90 :protrudeiully 'from the face 6 of the device as shown by the do-ttedioutlines. Then, as lever 64 is moved toward its rearward position 65, i. e. toward the right pfthe'view, the ring 62 "of lower pinv 6'0 encircling "the flever "64 must necessarily be carried 'along'ardistance"equal totlie'movement of the lever 64 at that location; Butthe upper portion of lever 64' which extends through the slot 82in memberdoes 'not, as itmoves to the right, cause the member 80 to move to"th'e fight until the "lever has reached the location 914 at Which'pointth'elever'hastraveled'the full length of slot82 'andhasnow comeinto-"contact with the right hand end wall 83 of the slot. Then, asilever'fi' l1c0ntinues its rightward movement from position 94 it carries along with it the member 86, causing-the forward end of pin 9'0 tobe'retracted' insidehdleQZ-and the-rearward end 8% of memberfib to protrudeout'of sllotill. Then the rightwardmovement of lever '64 isarrested .at location 65 when it reaches -the *right end wall lfi ofsiot i4' intop-member 12. Lower pin "60 is also retracted inside hole -58 "of Trent member 6 at thistimeas alreadyexplained.

.The device'may be employed-for*packing "belted machine Egun ammunition :into the ammunition boxes commonly used "on or with machine 7 guns, the belted cartridges being drawn fromthe box into the gun. .An empty ammunition cox '20, with itsflid'2 I pivotedto openposition as shown, is placed on'the Irontplat'form I8 as shownin Figures '1 and 2, belowthe .pins '46, 49 "and 56,

= and the "hand "Iever64 is movedtoits "forward position 61 as seen in Eigure l2,"so 'that'pinsjlifl and 'protruddfrilly'fromthe 'front face member.6. An L-shaped spring. .catch 63secured at one'legto member'36 as "shown, serves .tojyieldingly engage lever 64 and hold itinits forward position "61 "as desired.

.A belt 91 .loaded with cartridges 9'8 has its metal 'end'piece I placed in the positionshown in Figures 1 and2,' with its end loop "I02 sinrounding and supported "on pin '90. The 'end piece N10 is the partof thebelt -which'-isthe first "to pass through the machine gun during loading and firing. The" belt'is then looped-down around flower pin 60 and up'and over pin "I'M, and then "down "and around "pin 60 'again and up and over pin I06, then "down "again "and around 'lower'pinffiflgan'd up .and over the :next or "the-pins '46, and so on, to 'one side and the other as illustrated until "the entire belt is "in position on the ,pins as "shown, in a series of U-shaped folds or layers 1111 one layer inside the other the end I08 ofthe'beltcoritairlingno cartridge and "being hung onto 'end pin 49. Althoughthe illustrationshows"som'e-space between the cartridges of adjacent "coils "or 'layers/this is only "for .clarity of illustration. In "practice there will be no such space, each layer "being necessarily in .contact withlthe adjacent layers.

Now 'the hand lever "64 is pushed to ;its rearward position 65, thus retractin the pins'tlrand 9-0 whereupon the end piece I of the belt will drop down to left or right and lie across the top of the loops carried on the pins 45.

The empt ammunition container 20 is then moved upwardly by the operator so the downhanging layers l0! go into the box 20, and, as the top edge 23 of the box 20 gets close to the pins 46 the box 20 is pulled toward the operator and away from face member 6 so that the pins no longer support the belt, and it drops into the box 20. The cover 2| is then closed and the filled box is ready for immediate use if desired.

Where the belt is no longer than standard, then the end of the belt, instead of being hung on pin 49 as explained, is looped over pin 49 as shown by the dotted line 55. Similarly, if the belt is too short to reach pin 49 the end of the belt 91 may be looped over right hand pin 56 as shown by the dotted line 51 the loose end being tucked between the end and next to end layers.

By means of the above described invention it is possible to pack belted ammunition into ammunition boxes at a speed greatly in excess of that previously attained, and with relatively untrained and unskilled labor. The ammunition is packed into the box more uniformly and fills the space with less crowding. In the 01d method it was customary to lay the belt into the box in a plurality of superposed horizontal layers with bends at the ends of the layers. There were usually about 13 or 14 folds or end bends made in packing each belt of calibre .30 ammunition, with resultant waste of the space around each fold. The bends were on top of each other at each end and had to be relatively sharp to allow the belt to fill the box. In many cases, due to inexperienced personnel, the belt did not go all the way into the box, and downward pressure necessary to permit closing the box caused the bends at the ends of the horizontal layers to be subjected to such great stress that the end cartridges were sometimes deformed and caused the gun to jam when used. By the present method of packing as disclosed herein, there are only 7 or 8 folds per belt. Thus the number of folds or end bends has been cut in half with substantially less space wastage.

In the present method, all the end bends are on top and hence are not subjected to pressure. The layers lll'l are of relatively large radius and thus are flexible and easily accommodate themselves to the interior contour of the box so as to completely fill it along the bottom and sides. Thus the belt need not be pressed down into the box to close the cover, since it does not protrude upwards, and possible damage to individual rounds is avoided.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in specific terms, it is to be understood that changes may be made in size, shape, materials and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed herein.

I claim:

1. A method of arranging belted machine gun ammunition for packing into a machine gun ammunition box, comprising folding the belt into a nest of substantially U-shaped graduated layers each layer lying within the one next larger and being joined to it at one end and being joined to the layer next smaller at the other end, with the joined ends of said nested layers uppermost.

2. A method of arranging belted machine gun ammunition for packing into a machine gun ammunition box, comprising folding the belt into a nest of substantially U-shaped graduated layers each layer lying within the one next larger and being joined to it at one end and being joined to the layer next smaller at the other end with the joined ends of said nested layers uppermost, the end of said belt which is to enter the machine gun first forming the innermost and smallest layer and having the metal tip portion of the belt protruding therefrom.

8. A method of packing a belt of machine gun ammunition into a machine gun ammunition box, comprising arranging said belt inside said box in a nest of substantially U-shaped graduated layers, each layer lying within the one next larger and being joined to it at one end and being joined to the layer next smaller at the other end, the joined ends of said nested layers being uppermost in said box and the end portion of said belt which is to enter the machine gun first forming the innermost and smallest layer.

4. A rack for arranging a belt of machine gun ammunition into a nest of substantially U-shaped graduated layers for packing into a machine gun ammunition box with the joined ends of adjacent layers uppermost comprising a fiat supporting member, a plurality of spaced parallel belt guide pins mounted on said member in a line laterally thereof with each pin projecting therefrom, a lower belt guide pin slidably mounted through said member below the center of said line of guide pins and extending parallel to said pins and upper belt tip pin slidably mounted through said member above the center of said line of guide pins and extending parallel to said pins and means for sliding said upper belt tip pin and said lower belt guide pin through said member into and out of engagement with said belt as desired.

5. A rack for arranging a belt of machine gun ammunition into a nest of substantially U-shaped graduated layers for packing into a machine gun ammunition box with the joined ends of adjacent layers uppermost comprising a fiat supporting member, a plurality of spaced parallel belt guide pins mounted on said member in a line laterally thereof with each pin projecting therefrom, a lower belt guide pin slidably mounted through said member below the center of said line of guide pins and extending parallel to said pins, an upper belt tip pin slidably mounted through said member above the center of said line of guide pins and extending parallel to said pins, a pin retracting lever pivoted at its lower end on said support and with its upper end adapted for movement by an operator and said lever engaging said tip pin and guide pin intermediate its ends for retracting or extending said pins through said member as desired.

PARLEY F. LAMBERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,170,590 Wheeler Feb. 8, 1916 1,456,401 Powell May 22, 1923 1,688,273 Hawley Oct. 16, 1928 1,765,164 Kirkpatrick June 17, 1930 1,852,963 Fladmark Apr. 5, 1932 

